You want to teach English. And you're not a hardened criminal, right? Of course not! But you may well need to prove this last fact to get a job. Many countries (though not all) ask prospective teachers to provide a valid Background Check when they apply for a teaching...
Phonemes are the smallest possible sounds in a language which have a distinct meaning. So what does that mean in practice? Well, take these two words: kiss - miss When we say them, the only difference is the very first sound of each word: k and m This means that those...
Puns are ambiguous; they are words (or phrases) which sound the same but which have two very different meanings used for humorous effect. (A traditional explanation of a pun is a "play on words" but since this defines everything from puns to Spoonerisms to...
Create a Crossword is a great game you can play with Intermediate to Advanced classes. It's a variation on usual crossword puzzles and gets your students thinking about the way in which words are constructed and spelt simply by using crosswords. Preparation Draw then...
Coloring Dictation (or Colouring Dictation if you prefer British English spelling) is a simple activity which is ideal for young learners. It's fun and easy to set up. Preparation You need to find an outline drawing of a suitable subject for your class. It should have...
The founder of modern linguistics, Noam Chomsky was the first to devise a theory about the biological innateness of language. Born in Philadelphia in 1928 he studied linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania focusing on the systematic structure of Hebrew. After...
Mad Libs is a quick and amusing game which is ideal for teaching parts of speech (word classes) and semantic fields. It's ideal as a warmer or 5-minute end-of-lesson activity. Basically the game involves completing blank spaces in a template with various parts of...
Word Association is a simple 5 minute activity for the end of a lesson. It gets students talking and thinking about vocabulary. Explain to your students what word association is: when you hear a word, you say another related word that pops into your head. The...
Alias Words (also known as Don't Say a Word!) is a flexible activity which can be used in many different ways with speaking activities. The basic idea is that a Chosen Word cannot be used in the classroom and must be exchanged for another, nonsense, Alias Word. For...
Simply put, Morphology is the study of the words in a language. It does go deeper, but generally speaking it studies and looks at language in terms of: spelling pronunciation definition part of speech etymology (and obsolete usages) non-standard or slang/taboo usage...
